Red Cross shelter shifting homeless programs to Columbus House

MIDDLETOWN - The Middlesex County Chapter of the American Red Cross is transferring operation of its homeless shelter programs to Columbus House, a nonprofit emergency shelter provider.

The shelter program will remain at its current location; staff currently managing the program will remain with the program, said Brenda Simmons, executive director.

The Middlesex Chapter developed the family shelter program more than a decade ago, in response to a community need, Simmons said. She said that the Red Cross is transferring the program now because it will be focusing on its core services of emergency response and preparedness; service to the armed forces and military families; and international social services aimed at re-establishing family links and communications disrupted by disasters or conflict.

"We developed this program to help families in Middlesex County re-establish permanent residency. It's been a successful program that we want to see continue, but we are going to focus on very important services that we and other Red Cross Chapters across the nation have been providing for generations," said Simmons.

Simmons noted that the Red Cross in Connecticut responds to more than 500 local disasters each year, helping families to begin their own recovery process by providing them with temporary shelter, emotional support and financial assistance for emergency food, clothing and household needs.

"The work we do in emergency response has grown significantly over the years and is a primary focus of the American Red Cross humanitarian mission," Simmons said.

Red Cross life safety training reaches more than 180,000 people in Connecticut each year, Simmons said. The Red Cross provided emergency communications, counseling services and emergency financial assistance to more than 1,425 Connecticut military families and opened more than 80 international services cases, which are primarily family tracing requests to reunite relatives separated by disaster or national conflict.

"These services are the heart of the Red Cross in Connecticut and across the nation," Simmons said. "We are proud of the work we do in these areas and will be focusing our efforts and resources on these services to make the most efficient use of the funds donated to us."